Screen sharing between computing devices over a network has a myriad of practical applications. One practical application is collaboration between a host and a viewer. A host can give a presentation to one or more remote viewers, perform demonstrations, review documents, and share images. As an example of another practical use, screen sharing enables remote technical support. For example, by watching the keystrokes entered by a host, remote technical support staff can diagnose problems as though the present on site.
During a screen-sharing session, the host typically has an open browser window prominently displayed on the display screen of the host. The viewer can also see this browser window and can follow the host as the host browses the Internet. As part of the co-browsing activity, the host and viewer can choose to engage in a chat session, for example, to ask and answer questions related to the web browsing performed by the host. Conventionally, the chat window opens in a separate browser window. However, a problem with a browser-based chat session is that the chat window typically opens on top of the web browser window, where it obscures much of the content that would be visible on the display screen. FIG. 1 illustrates this problem, wherein, on the display screen 2 of the host, a chat window 4 obscures information 6 appearing in a web browser window 8. If the parties wish to resume co-browsing, the user of the host selects the browser window 8. As illustrated in FIG. 2, resumption of co-browsing brings the browser window 8 to the forefront, where it obscures most, if not all of the chat window 4. Consequently, new chat messages presented to the chat window 4 can go unnoticed. The problem makes it difficult to chat and co-browse web pages concurrently.